Although I wouldn’t call myself a Green Lantern fan, I enjoy the occasional dabble into their world. I enjoyed the Red Lanterns/Supergirl crossover during their New 52 run more than I thought I would. Although the Green Lantern movie is not what I would call a good movie, there were aspects of it that intrigued me. So I’m not going to go out of my way to read any Green Lantern books, I enjoyed this 2-part Superman story involving Sinestro and Parallax.
Written by Keith Champagne, this issue continues where the last one left off. To sum up Superman 29, a bunch of kids went missing, and it turned out to be Parallax trying to regain his strength. Superman offered himself to the fear entity in exchange for releasing the kids, and a Parallax controlled Superman immediately went after Sinestro for revenge.
This issue starts off with a big, yet brief fight scene between the two yellow lantern powerhouses. The fight ends up with Superman being captured, and the rest of the comic delves deep into a mythos I’m not all that familiar with. As such, I won’t talk much about the yellow lantern side of the comic. I will say that the comic does a good job at explaining what’s going on, and that Superman showcases the kind of wisdom and understanding that makes him so easy to look up to. It also explores Superman’s biggest fears, which is fitting for a yellow lantern focused story.
The art by Ed Benes, Tyler Kirkham and Philip Tan is good. Seeing how I’m not familiar with any of these artists, I’m not sure where one ends and another begins, but save for the look into Superman’s fears, it’s all a similar style. The opening fight scene is very detailed with a lot of yellow energy being thrown around, the city in the background and images of Parallax here and there. The fear montage could just as well be without any dialogue and it would still be very effective, showing pictures like Jon being teased in school for being different, cities on fire and terrible things happening to the people he cares about. The colouring by Dinei Riberio, Tomeu Morey and Sunny Gho is also good. It makes sense that this is a very yellow looking comic, but it’s balanced out with an icy white background, a couple characters with little to no yellow in their looks at all, and the final closing page in Superman’s apartment an night, with Superman’s shadow partially covering his sleeping son after he returns home.
When you have a series that’s been releasing every other week, the main writers need a break every now and then. And because this story uses the yellow lanterns to explore some of Superman’s deepest fears while also showcasing what makes him special and easy to look up to, it’s a good break from the norm. That’s not to say I would want this to be a regular thing, but it’s a good 2-part story that’s worth checking out if you’ve been enjoying this series. It’s probably worth checking out if you are into the green lantern franchise as well.
8/10
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